Despite losing some of its strongest players to graduation, the 2009-10 New York University men's swimming & diving team managed to produce a successful season with junior diver Max Norris leading the charge.
Bob Sorensen's Violets posted a 7-4 dual-meet record while also taking a fifth place at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships and a 55th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Norris, the UAA Men's Diver of the Year and nine-time UAA Athlete of the Week recipient on the season, secured Honorable Mention All-American status in the three-meter dive with a 15th-place total of 402.95 points at the NCAA's.
"It was a really tight contest up and down and Max really battled it out," said NYU diving coach Scott Donie at the national meet. "Unfortunately, he just missed cracking the top 16. But, it was a great effort, and I look forward to returning here next year with Max."
At the UAA's, Norris topped the field in both the one-meter (431.20) and three-meter (427.65) events. His coaches, Donie and assistant Todd Kolean, were named the UAA Men's Diving Coaching Staff of the Year.
Eric Pcholinski, a seven-time All-American in his stellar career, was named the UAA Men's Swimmer of the Year, notching victories in both the 50 freestyle (21.94) and 100 freestyle (45.53) at the UAA Championships. He was a two-time UAA Athlete of the Week selection during the campaign.
The Violets opened the season with a victory over SUNY New Paltz at the NYU Invitational, then defeated UAA opponents Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester at the Rochester Invitational.
Other highlights during the season included victories over Vassar College and Swarthmore College, as well as a third-place finish at the MIT Invitational.
Although there was no team scoring at the NYU Last Chance Invitational, 13 records were broken during the competition. NYU sophomore Bryson Naylor was one of the swimmers to put his name into the history books, setting a Palladium Natatorium record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:56.83.
In addition to their accomplishments in the pool, the Violets were also highly successful on dry land. Nine team members earned both UAA Winter Sport All-Academic honors and NYU Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Committee Fall Honor Roll status.
